There is no doubt that Roulette carries with it a certain amount of excitement, flair if you will. This image was created by that "Mother of all super spies," James Bond, who, with a beautiful woman nearby, preferred to play this fast-paced game, when not beating the bad guys at Baccarat. Although a game favored by Europeans, Roulette has managed to gather a strong following in North America, most likely for its simplicity and the chance to win big money. Roulette means "little wheel" in French. The invention of the game that we're familiar with today is generally attributed to the French philosopher and mathematician, Blaise Pascal, who is credited with originating the probability theory. But forerunners of Roulette, basically carnival wheel games, were in use throughout Europe, as early as the mid-1500s. It's simply a guessing game with a little white ball and a big spinning wheel. The ball spins in one direction as the wheel spins in the other, until the ball lands in one of the 38 pockets on the wheel. If your money is on the right number, set of numbers, or color, you collect. Not bad, huh? To bet on two numbers, place your chips on the line between the two numbers you wish to bet on, such as between 1 and 2, or 1 and the single zero, or 1 and 4. The first 12, second 12 and third 12 all pay 2-1. If you put a $5 chip in the second column and the ball drops into number 17, you win $10. You can mix, match and make as many bets as you like on a single spin. If you give the dealer a $20 bill, he'll give you back 20 wheel chips worth $1 each. If you've got one of those feelings that the next number will be 15 and somebody's already on that number, just pile your wheel chips right on top. Before sitting down to play, take particular note of the table-minimum betting rules. In other words, you can bet 50 cents on four different numbers. You are allowed to place bets even while the wheel is spinning, up until the point when the dealer announces, "No more bets." This is the fun part. On a table that's really jamming, players twist, lunge and sometimes elbow their way past other players to get their bets down before the deadline. When you're ready to cash out, don't forget to redeem your wheel chips (for real chips) right at the table. You CAN'T exchange them anywhere else in the casino, not even at the cashier's cage. Most Roulette wheels in Las Vegas have two green-colored pockets, one displaying a zero, and a second with two zeros. The house edge on a single-zero wheel is only 2.7%. The double-zero game has one bet that you should always avoid: the five-number bet on 0, 00, 1, 2, 3. Roulette is a game of independent trials, which means the ball has no memory of what has occurred in the past, and cannot become more predictable because of prior results. Since the casino edge on both the inside and outside bets is the same, it doesn't really matter which you choose to play.

Roulette Tips

Keep in mind that all the bets on the roulette table naturally return a 5.25% Casino Advantage (except the five-number bet), although there are some situations when this advantage can be lowered to 2.6% and 1.3%.  With this in mind, here are the best non-system related tips that will help a player hold out at the roulette table:

Tip - Play the European version of Roulette

Most online casinos will offer both the American and European versions of roulette. With these bets, a 1.3% House Edge is obtainable, and will help a bankroll hold out longer with more positive return.  Additionally, it is only the even money bets that qualify for the "en prison" rule (see tip #3), which will bring the House Edge down even more.

Tip - Play a roulette table that offers the en prison or la partage rule

With this rule in place, which not all casinos offer, (and so therefore is a subject worth looking into when picking an online casino to play roulette at) the House Edge can be brought down to 1.35%.  It states that when a 0 (and 00 for the American version) is landed by the roulette ball, all even money bets are not lost, but are rather afforded the opportunity to stay on the board for the next bet, or be taken back by the player.  In the long run, this rule can be the deciding factor on whether a player ends in the red or not.  It may not even come into play during a round of roulette.  the fact that it can be exercised is quite reassuring, made evident by a House Edge reduced by half.  Las partage, called the Surrender rule, governs even money wagers in the same fashion, except that it returns half of the wager, thereby returning a 2.6% House Edge.

Tip - Do not place the five-number bet

The five-number bet, simply put, gives a House Edge of 7.3%.  This is the highest casino advantage of any other roulette wager, and should always be avoided.  With 5 to 1 payout odds, a player is better off taking the 8 to 1 payout on a corner bet.

As one can see, an approach to playing roulette can still be based on the numbers, as few as they might be.  The Casino advantage and odds still change from bet to bet, but do so in such a way that making a wise wager choice is easy to not second-guess oneself over.